Judith Potts was an actress and is now a voice, acting and presentation coach. She is married with two children, three stepchildren and is the proud grandmother to two grandsons. She lives in west London and Yorkshire. In 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She can be contacted at judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk and is on Twitter @JudithPotts.

Why 'listen to your body' is such a vitally important phrase

Good for you: delicious, leafy vegetables are grown in a polytunnel (Photo: Ben Russell)

Luckily for his wife, Elsie, Jim Campbell is a research scientist. So – when she began feverishly eating lettuce, he realised that Elsie's body was trying to tell her something. Having discovered that lettuce contains various nutrients and minerals which the body loses when fighting cancer – and which Elsie was unwittingly trying to put back – breast cancer was diagnosed. After surgery and treatment, the lettuce craving disappeared and Elsie – now six years on – is enormously grateful to her husband for spotting the signs.

During the war, when food was rationed, it was very common for pregnant women to attack the coal bucket with a vengeance – their bodies being desperate for the iron. Even now, particularly in menopausal and post-menopausal women, iron-deficiency occurs – which might explain my craving for dark chocolate! That is my belief and I am sticking to it!

Joking apart, "Learn to listen to your body" is quoted so often – it is an easy phrase but we should not forget its relevance.

Jim has now launched a website called www.questionmyhealth.com.

Log on, answer a series of questions and check if you are suffering from a nutrient deficiency which could alert you to an undiagnosed condition.

Another aspect of the body fighting back has been found by Danish researchers looking at 17,000 adults. It seems that people who find their skin is allergic to various substances – metals like nickel and cobalt, perfumes, plants etc.- may have an immune system which is "super-responsive". This means that the very allergies which drive them crackers might – and I repeat, might – give them a lesser chance of developing certain types of cancer. Breast cancer, non-melanoma skin cancer and brain cancer were mentioned.

The reasoning is that contact skin allergies stimulate the production of T cells, which are a natural killer of developing cancer cells.

There is already unexplained evidence that people who suffer from hay-fever, asthma and eczema also have a slightly reduced chance of developing cancer. It would seem that the immune system which rises to attack its contact enemies, also "has a go" at nascent cancer cells.

However, it is worth noting that there were higher rates of bladder cancer and the suspect in question is hair dye. I have written before about the need to be very careful about using only natural hair-care products, like Herbalife Hair Colour, which does not contain anything nasty.

Do you have a favourite natural hair or body product you could recommend or a craving which turned out to be caused by a physical condition? If so, please email me on judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk.